I have decided to occasionally post
apologetical (simply meaning, a study of Christian theology concerned with the
defense or proof of Christianity) thoughts and findings in relation to
understanding God and the Bible. This not only stems from my personal enjoyment
of apologetics, but because of my own personal struggles. I have often
struggled with many Old Testament passages of Scripture - things that have made
God seem very harsh, cruel, and far from the loving God often preached to me.
There was even a point in my life where I honestly didn't want much to do with
God because of what I read in the Bible. For this reason, apologetics has been
a powerful tool in my life. I learned to never give up searching for answers.
And even though the answers were often not immediate, I have found that if I
wait patiently, God often meets me where I am in my doubts and struggles.
I have many unanswered questions still, but I also have more questions answered today than five years ago. As I have said before, however, it's rarely been immediate. The process has been long, but persistence is a virtue. You must never give up, even when things don't make sense. You must continually seek, ask, and knock until the door is opened (Matt 7:7). Persistence comes from determination. When you want something bad enough - you find a way to get it, no matter what.
I have many unanswered questions still, but I also have more questions answered today than five years ago. As I have said before, however, it's rarely been immediate. The process has been long, but persistence is a virtue. You must never give up, even when things don't make sense. You must continually seek, ask, and knock until the door is opened (Matt 7:7). Persistence comes from determination. When you want something bad enough - you find a way to get it, no matter what.
The passage I have struggled with
the most recently comes from Judges. And rather than writing out the whole
story, I think I will simply paste the passage of Scripture below and then follow
it up with a summary. Quite honestly though, the story spans several passages
of Scripture and while it's best to start from the beginning, it's too much for
me to paste. So I will focus on a central part of the story in question:
Judges
11: 29-3929 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”
32 Then Jephthah went over to fight
the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. 33 He devastated twenty
towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus
Israel subdued Ammon.
34 When Jephthah returned to his
home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to
the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son
nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh no, my
daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to
the Lord that I cannot break.”
36 “My father,” she replied, “you
have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord
has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. 37 But grant me this one
request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my
friends, because I will never marry.”
38 “You may go,” he said. And he let
her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because
she would never marry. 39 After the two months, she returned to her father, and
he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.
This is a hard passage to digest. Jephthah, an unlikely hero, sets out to defend Israel against the Ammonites. And because of Jephthah's personal background, it's safe to say he has a lot hanging on the line, defeat is simply not an option. So in a moment of rashness, Jephthah utters a vow to the Lord - something that is not only highly serious, but impossible to go back on. In an effort to make a quick bargain for what he wants, Jephthah does not stop to consider the possible consequences of his actions. In the words of Solomon in Ecclesiastes:
Be very careful when you go to
worship God. It is better to listen to God than to give sacrifices like fools.
Fools often do bad things, and they don’t even know it. Be
careful when you make promises to God. Be careful about what you say to him.
Don’t let your feelings cause you to speak too soon. God is in heaven, and you
are on the earth. So you need to say only a few things to him. This saying is
true: “Bad
dreams come from too many worries, and too many words come from the mouth of a
fool.” If you make a promise to God, keep your
promise. Don’t be slow to do what you promised. God is not happy with fools.
Give God what you promised to give him. It is better to
promise nothing than to promise something and not be able to do it. So don’t let your words cause you to sin. Don’t say to the
priest, “I didn’t mean what I said.”
Ecc 5:1-6Jephthah's rash vow ended up costing him dearly. Many who read this story, believers and non-believers alike, are horrified at the idea of Jephthah sacrificing his daughter to God. It's an unspeakable cruel act for anyone to commit, let alone a parent. It's particularly perplexing because why would God want Jephthah to sacrifice his daughter just to fulfill a vow? Why would God ever sanction a human sacrifice? More importantly, why would a loving God ever saction a human sacrifice in any situation?
While I want to be very careful in
how I interpret scripture, I do think there's a reasonable explanation behind
what’s going on in the passage. Again, I don't want to manipulate God's Word to suit my own
personal opinions, but I think it's possible we might be jumping to conclusions. First of
all, notice that physical human sacrifice is never mentioned. The only part where
a physical sacrifice is mentioned is before Jephthah returns home when he vows
a “burnt offering” to the Lord. However, these words are not used thereafter.
Secondly, Jephthah, being an Israelite, would also be aware of God's strict commands against human sacrifice, especially since doing so warranted the death penalty - denoting the seriousness of such a transgression (Lev 18:21, 20:2-5, Deut 12:31, Deut 18:10, Jer 7:31, 19:5, 32:35). So while breaking the vow would be sinful, so would sacrificing his daughter. Did Jephthah have to choose between the two sins, deciding which one was worse? Unlikely. What stands out to me is his daughter's reaction. Jephthah's daughter asks to go mourn with her friends over her virginity. Notice it doesn't say her impending death or the fact that she would die a virgin. Also, it's interesting to note that she wanted to spend her last two months with her maiden companions rather than her family. If death is fast approaching, why choose the one over the other?
All of this leads me to believe that Jephthah was not going to physically sacrifice his daughter - rather he was going to offer her as a living sacrifice in service to the Lord, and that doing so entailed being a virgin maiden, meaning she would never marry or have a family. Jephthah fulfilled his vow in the same way Hannah fulfilled her's when she prayed and made an oath to the Lord that if he gave her a son, she would offer him back in service to the Lord.
This sort of fulfillment, while very saddening, is much less severe than the idea that he sacrificed her to God. What's also interesting to note is the daughter's reaction to Jephthah's vow: "My father," she replied, "you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites." While the conclusion may leave many of us with a bitter taste in our mouths, Jephthah's daughter reacts with complete humility and willingly complies with the vow her father has made. Rather than berating her father or running away, Jephthah's daughter makes peace with the future that is before her.
In the end, Jephthah's rash vow not only cost his daughter, but also costs himself. The passage makes sure to note that she is his only child - meaning because Jephthah offers his daughter in service to the Lord, he effectively ends his own lineage. While such a prospect may not be a big deal today, it was a huge deal in the time and culture in which he was living. Having descendants to carry on your lineage and name was not only important, it was paramount; hence why barrenness was often viewed as a curse.
Understanding this passage can leave us with mixed emotions. On one hand, it’s a relief to know he didn't sacrifice his daughter as a human sacrifice to God. On the other hand, it leaves us feeling very sad for Jephthah's daughter. And to be honest, I think that's what’s the author intended; that’s why the story is included in the Bible. We're not meant to close our Bibles and say, "Oh well, so she died virgin, no big deal." Rather, we're meant to feel for Jephthah’s daughter and take Jephthah's lesson to heart. In regards to oaths and promises, Jesus said: "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all...All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one" (Matt 5: 33-37). Rash actions and decisions can cost us and those we love dearly.
While it's easy to judge Jephthah, we are at times guilty of the same thing. We often commit ourselves to the future in a way that is unwise. Think about it. I can think of quite a few relationships where someone has promised something to another, only to take the words back later to the detriment of the other. Parents who have made broken promises to their children, leaving them with a deep distrust towards others. Men who whisper romantic words in the ears of a woman, promising her a future in order to gratify desires of the present, only to break that commitment later, leaving her broken-hearted. Women who glibly promise to be there for a guy no matter what, only to take the words back later and leave him feeling abandoned. And the divorces that are ever-increasing in our society - couples who rush in to marriage because of their feelings only to later regret the vows they made because of things they did not previously consider.
Such broken promises leave broken hearts and broken families in their wake. Often people who make such promises make them with good intentions, they do not make them with the intention to break them. But once broken, their effect is still the same. To borrow the words of an old saying: the road to hell is paved with good intentions.Vows and promises are not meant to be things we utter casually or rashly, rather they require serious consideration where they are made. Instead of promising a future, the most honest thing we can do is commit ourselves to the present and frame our promises therein. In the words of the James:
Some of you say, “Today or tomorrow
we will go to some city. We will stay there a year, do business, and make
money.” Listen, think about this: You don’t know what
will happen tomorrow. Your life is like a fog. You can see it for a short time,
but then it goes away. So you should say, “If the Lord
wants, we will live and do this or that.” But now you are
proud and boast about yourself. All such boasting is wrong. James 4:13-16
Secondly, Jephthah, being an Israelite, would also be aware of God's strict commands against human sacrifice, especially since doing so warranted the death penalty - denoting the seriousness of such a transgression (Lev 18:21, 20:2-5, Deut 12:31, Deut 18:10, Jer 7:31, 19:5, 32:35). So while breaking the vow would be sinful, so would sacrificing his daughter. Did Jephthah have to choose between the two sins, deciding which one was worse? Unlikely. What stands out to me is his daughter's reaction. Jephthah's daughter asks to go mourn with her friends over her virginity. Notice it doesn't say her impending death or the fact that she would die a virgin. Also, it's interesting to note that she wanted to spend her last two months with her maiden companions rather than her family. If death is fast approaching, why choose the one over the other?
All of this leads me to believe that Jephthah was not going to physically sacrifice his daughter - rather he was going to offer her as a living sacrifice in service to the Lord, and that doing so entailed being a virgin maiden, meaning she would never marry or have a family. Jephthah fulfilled his vow in the same way Hannah fulfilled her's when she prayed and made an oath to the Lord that if he gave her a son, she would offer him back in service to the Lord.
This sort of fulfillment, while very saddening, is much less severe than the idea that he sacrificed her to God. What's also interesting to note is the daughter's reaction to Jephthah's vow: "My father," she replied, "you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites." While the conclusion may leave many of us with a bitter taste in our mouths, Jephthah's daughter reacts with complete humility and willingly complies with the vow her father has made. Rather than berating her father or running away, Jephthah's daughter makes peace with the future that is before her.
In the end, Jephthah's rash vow not only cost his daughter, but also costs himself. The passage makes sure to note that she is his only child - meaning because Jephthah offers his daughter in service to the Lord, he effectively ends his own lineage. While such a prospect may not be a big deal today, it was a huge deal in the time and culture in which he was living. Having descendants to carry on your lineage and name was not only important, it was paramount; hence why barrenness was often viewed as a curse.
Understanding this passage can leave us with mixed emotions. On one hand, it’s a relief to know he didn't sacrifice his daughter as a human sacrifice to God. On the other hand, it leaves us feeling very sad for Jephthah's daughter. And to be honest, I think that's what’s the author intended; that’s why the story is included in the Bible. We're not meant to close our Bibles and say, "Oh well, so she died virgin, no big deal." Rather, we're meant to feel for Jephthah’s daughter and take Jephthah's lesson to heart. In regards to oaths and promises, Jesus said: "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all...All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one" (Matt 5: 33-37). Rash actions and decisions can cost us and those we love dearly.
While it's easy to judge Jephthah, we are at times guilty of the same thing. We often commit ourselves to the future in a way that is unwise. Think about it. I can think of quite a few relationships where someone has promised something to another, only to take the words back later to the detriment of the other. Parents who have made broken promises to their children, leaving them with a deep distrust towards others. Men who whisper romantic words in the ears of a woman, promising her a future in order to gratify desires of the present, only to break that commitment later, leaving her broken-hearted. Women who glibly promise to be there for a guy no matter what, only to take the words back later and leave him feeling abandoned. And the divorces that are ever-increasing in our society - couples who rush in to marriage because of their feelings only to later regret the vows they made because of things they did not previously consider.
Such broken promises leave broken hearts and broken families in their wake. Often people who make such promises make them with good intentions, they do not make them with the intention to break them. But once broken, their effect is still the same. To borrow the words of an old saying: the road to hell is paved with good intentions.Vows and promises are not meant to be things we utter casually or rashly, rather they require serious consideration where they are made. Instead of promising a future, the most honest thing we can do is commit ourselves to the present and frame our promises therein. In the words of the James:
